The National Insurance Scheme Fund was established in 1966 when the National Insurance Act was adopted. The intention was that funds not used to meet current social security expenditure would be set aside in the National Insurance Scheme Fund as a reserve. Since then, far more money has been paid out in social security payments than expected and there have been no transfers to the Fund since the end of the 1970s. Today, the Fund is separate from the National Insurance Scheme, and the capital managed by the Fund has grown substantially from just NOK 19 billion in 1980 to more than 140 billion at the end of 2012. This is a result of returns on the capital in the Fund. The capital is not earmarked for any specific purpose.
